wildcountryclub
we've been running 3.4 since we went digital in the booth, and other than when running visualizations, it has NEVER crashed on us. videos are no problem, music is great, fun to mix with, and customers think its really cool (VERY people friendly dj booth).
but this is about updating. we've played around with 4.1 and 4.2, but the word from on high is - "until there are NO issues left to interupt the music, keep using 3.4" and i gotta agree on this with them. "if it ain't broke - don't fix it". we have more than enough processor power, RAM, etc. to run the updated versions. but everytime we go through the forums we see more and more people having problems, and before we completly jump in with both feet we need to know that everything is fixed.
talk to me people.
we're also planning on buying a MK2 or hercules fairly soon, and need to know if there are any issues involved that we need to know of.
any and all feedback would be greatly appreciated.
P.S. yeah i tend to ramble after a night like we just had. FUN!
P.P.S. - visiting DJ's getting first exposure to VDJ - they keep saying "WOW!' and walk off with glazed looks and visions of TCV's in their heads.
almost forgot...
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
but this is about updating. we've played around with 4.1 and 4.2, but the word from on high is - "until there are NO issues left to interupt the music, keep using 3.4" and i gotta agree on this with them. "if it ain't broke - don't fix it". we have more than enough processor power, RAM, etc. to run the updated versions. but everytime we go through the forums we see more and more people having problems, and before we completly jump in with both feet we need to know that everything is fixed.
talk to me people.
we're also planning on buying a MK2 or hercules fairly soon, and need to know if there are any issues involved that we need to know of.
any and all feedback would be greatly appreciated.
P.S. yeah i tend to ramble after a night like we just had. FUN!
P.P.S. - visiting DJ's getting first exposure to VDJ - they keep saying "WOW!' and walk off with glazed looks and visions of TCV's in their heads.
almost forgot...
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
geposted Fri 29 Dec 06 @ 11:40 am
cstoll
You say you have played with 4.1 and 4.2 - so what has your experience been with it?
Everyone's setups are different and those problems you read hear are people that have experienced problem and are not necessarily the majority? I have been using every version as it releases on the machine at our club and with great success I might add.
But, give some more details on how you use the program (features and capabilities) and your experiences.
Everyone's setups are different and those problems you read hear are people that have experienced problem and are not necessarily the majority? I have been using every version as it releases on the machine at our club and with great success I might add.
But, give some more details on how you use the program (features and capabilities) and your experiences.
geposted Fri 29 Dec 06 @ 2:46 pm
wildcountryclub
just using the basics has been getting us through, but we've been using it more and more for the meat and bones of the night. i've run video all night long (playing and mixing), just played and mixed regular music all night or a mixture of both. granted, it is a country bar, but we play alot more hip-hop & rap, disco, 80's, rock & roll (old rock & roll - modern rock kinda turns our crowd off - dunno why) than you would expect - its a weird crowd, not very demanding at times but i'm not gonna argue with a thousand drunk redneck soldiers and their girlfriends and future ex-wives.
there have been nights when the only songs i actually play off a cd are cd's with heavy copy protection that i havent ripped into the hard drive. making us lazy it is. but just using the keyboard and mouse, i've managed to keep the crowd happy.
there are still things on the program that we are learning how to use - video effects from the fx button for example - and we want to do more more more! drag and drop a playlist and hit shuffle so it doesnt sound like the one you played last week? sure! impress rednecks with simple video mixing when the competition can't even play videos with the music and video in sync? sure! spend less time in my cell and actually get to mingle a bit? HELL YES! put pictures of drunks on a slideshow being stupid, group shots, event pictures, and riding the mechanical bull and getting thrown on their ass? absolutly!
did i mention that i like using VDJ?
i just want to get more advanced using it and still not have to worry about seeing that little window pop-up and tell me its crashed.
some tech stuff
dell XPS 3.06G processor
nvidia graphics card - not the best one made but pretty close to the best one dell was offering last march and has s-video and hdmi outputs
creative sound card - can't remember which one but its good
1 gig ram
500gig hard drive - we've almost used 100gigs - all cd's ripped at 320kbps, videos (promo only - bleah) ripped using vdj ripper and some downloaded (shhh!)
video output to 5 screens: 1-20+ft, 4 - 10ft screens. looks cool anyway.
we dont use the hardware acceleration for video - kept giving us problems, but works fine without it.
anything i left out?... sleep want sleep... work.. gotta go to work. later
there have been nights when the only songs i actually play off a cd are cd's with heavy copy protection that i havent ripped into the hard drive. making us lazy it is. but just using the keyboard and mouse, i've managed to keep the crowd happy.
there are still things on the program that we are learning how to use - video effects from the fx button for example - and we want to do more more more! drag and drop a playlist and hit shuffle so it doesnt sound like the one you played last week? sure! impress rednecks with simple video mixing when the competition can't even play videos with the music and video in sync? sure! spend less time in my cell and actually get to mingle a bit? HELL YES! put pictures of drunks on a slideshow being stupid, group shots, event pictures, and riding the mechanical bull and getting thrown on their ass? absolutly!
did i mention that i like using VDJ?
i just want to get more advanced using it and still not have to worry about seeing that little window pop-up and tell me its crashed.
some tech stuff
dell XPS 3.06G processor
nvidia graphics card - not the best one made but pretty close to the best one dell was offering last march and has s-video and hdmi outputs
creative sound card - can't remember which one but its good
1 gig ram
500gig hard drive - we've almost used 100gigs - all cd's ripped at 320kbps, videos (promo only - bleah) ripped using vdj ripper and some downloaded (shhh!)
video output to 5 screens: 1-20+ft, 4 - 10ft screens. looks cool anyway.
we dont use the hardware acceleration for video - kept giving us problems, but works fine without it.
anything i left out?... sleep want sleep... work.. gotta go to work. later
geposted Sat 30 Dec 06 @ 1:19 am
cstoll
Well from what it sounds like you are using it in the simplest of forms.
Your not using TimeCoded CDs or Vinyl. You do the occasional beat mixing. You sometimes use the AutoMix mode.
One suggestions and I would not hesitate to move to v4.2 -
-Look into your video card situation and think about investing $150 - 175 into a good card so you can use the hardware acceleration. From what it sounds like this is currently where your bottle neck (no pun intended) is. With a better card the rest of your machine sounds perfect and the hardware acceleration will do you nicely.
Oh and make sure everything is up to date - drivers and especially DirectX - ( http://www.microsoft.com/directx/ )
Beyond that you should not have any concerns about the move to 4.2 and just to keep a confidence level high - look into those changes before moving to 4.2 so that way you know 3.4 is happy and you can always go back.
cstoll
Your not using TimeCoded CDs or Vinyl. You do the occasional beat mixing. You sometimes use the AutoMix mode.
One suggestions and I would not hesitate to move to v4.2 -
-Look into your video card situation and think about investing $150 - 175 into a good card so you can use the hardware acceleration. From what it sounds like this is currently where your bottle neck (no pun intended) is. With a better card the rest of your machine sounds perfect and the hardware acceleration will do you nicely.
Oh and make sure everything is up to date - drivers and especially DirectX - ( http://www.microsoft.com/directx/ )
Beyond that you should not have any concerns about the move to 4.2 and just to keep a confidence level high - look into those changes before moving to 4.2 so that way you know 3.4 is happy and you can always go back.
cstoll
geposted Sat 30 Dec 06 @ 10:16 am
halo_djk
Hmmm, is a XPS a laptop or desktop system? If it's laptop video upgrade options become limited.
geposted Sat 30 Dec 06 @ 11:56 am
wildcountryclub
after work posting... i can almost keep eyeballs open.
will have to get back to work to put actual computer specs on. i should never do this from memory on friday or saturday nights. automix? constantly when it comes to the country videos - for those it just doesnt matter.
as far as the beat mixing goes, i'm using VDJ more and more, and had a hell of a set after 2 last night. electric slide into billie jean and the rednecks kept doin the slide until they figured out what i was doing. wish i had had the camera aimed at the dance floor. talk about some confused white people.
we hired a new dj middle of last month to take a load off my back, and he is now a convert to the VDJ cult. keeps saying "Wow!"
ramble, ramble, ramble... pillow... sleep. trance from VDJ radio to help me sleeeeeep
will have to get back to work to put actual computer specs on. i should never do this from memory on friday or saturday nights. automix? constantly when it comes to the country videos - for those it just doesnt matter.
as far as the beat mixing goes, i'm using VDJ more and more, and had a hell of a set after 2 last night. electric slide into billie jean and the rednecks kept doin the slide until they figured out what i was doing. wish i had had the camera aimed at the dance floor. talk about some confused white people.
we hired a new dj middle of last month to take a load off my back, and he is now a convert to the VDJ cult. keeps saying "Wow!"
ramble, ramble, ramble... pillow... sleep. trance from VDJ radio to help me sleeeeeep
geposted Sat 30 Dec 06 @ 1:59 pm
wildcountryclub
sorry it took so long to reply - new years and stuff.
hard drive 500gig
processor intell pentium D 3gig
nvidia geforce 7300le
creative sb x-fi
rane mp24z
that help?
hard drive 500gig
processor intell pentium D 3gig
nvidia geforce 7300le
creative sb x-fi
rane mp24z
that help?
geposted Tue 02 Jan 07 @ 5:05 am
A Man and His Music
Well now I will give you a positive outlook. I don't remember if 3.1 or 3.4 was my first version, but I have upgraded to each new version, and have not looked back. I am a master mixer, I mix everything. I work in a club 5 days a week, 7 hours a day. Some times I do a double for 15 hours. This is audio and video. These are not just one track into another mixes. I create remixes on the fly, live. I use effects, plug ins, samples, loops, you name it. I don't have any issues with this software. I am using a self built desktop. I know some have had issues, but I believe the software is stable. I forgot to mention that I do mobile work with this machine also. Each upgrade addresses an issue, and adds more capabilities. You can not make a decision, if you don't give it a good workout.
geposted Tue 02 Jan 07 @ 8:23 am
wildcountryclub
15 hours straight.. i'd be ready to cause serious bodily harm.
in a perfect world i could run the the neighborhood walgreens and buy a decent computer to practice with at home for 10 bucks. until then i get to practice at home on my decrepit, 6 year old, 1.2g/256megs of ram emachines. who knows i might be able to get a new one around tax rebate time. until then am just gonna have to play with 3.4 at work (http://www.myspace.com/wildcountrytx).
speakin of work - new years eve this year easiest one yet thanks to VDJ... talk about takin the stress load off! hope yours was as good as ours!
in a perfect world i could run the the neighborhood walgreens and buy a decent computer to practice with at home for 10 bucks. until then i get to practice at home on my decrepit, 6 year old, 1.2g/256megs of ram emachines. who knows i might be able to get a new one around tax rebate time. until then am just gonna have to play with 3.4 at work (http://www.myspace.com/wildcountrytx).
speakin of work - new years eve this year easiest one yet thanks to VDJ... talk about takin the stress load off! hope yours was as good as ours!
geposted Tue 02 Jan 07 @ 9:38 am
bagpuss
I use both 4.2 and the HDJC MK2 in clubs, I recommend both as very stable with great compatibility. If you have anymore specific questions please don't hesitate to ask.
geposted Tue 02 Jan 07 @ 12:16 pm
sbangs
i second that
i love 4.2 and the mk2
never let me down :)
i love 4.2 and the mk2
never let me down :)
geposted Tue 02 Jan 07 @ 1:11 pm
wildcountryclub
Good news good news..
just got the go ahead to start shopping/pricing for mk2. i should make them buy 2 and give me the second for a late xmas present.
just got the go ahead to start shopping/pricing for mk2. i should make them buy 2 and give me the second for a late xmas present.
geposted Tue 02 Jan 07 @ 8:56 pm
vantinedj
I have both version 3.4 and 4.0 on my main system but utilize 4.0 almost all of the time. I've been so busy it's been hard for me to post but if your specs are good you should not have issues. You just need time to test and as I did leave both versions on there just in case. Did no harm for me. I also have been afraid to upgrde past 4.0 but now that my season is pretty much over I am going to move to 4.2. I guess there is not too much different being I don't use TCV.
geposted Tue 02 Jan 07 @ 9:31 pm
sbangs
i would always recomend upgrading unless you have a reason not to
for example a hardware restraint
for example a hardware restraint
geposted Tue 02 Jan 07 @ 9:46 pm
wildcountryclub
okay okay i WILL upgrade... eventually.
BTW sky - those are some GREAT tutorials i've been reading. things i was going to complain about to the support people became non-issues after reading a couple of them. thanks!
BTW sky - those are some GREAT tutorials i've been reading. things i was going to complain about to the support people became non-issues after reading a couple of them. thanks!
geposted Wed 03 Jan 07 @ 12:30 am
sbangs
thanks glad they helped will add more :-)
geposted Wed 03 Jan 07 @ 11:41 am